A blog about genealogy and thoughts about the various roots and branches of my family tree as well as the times in which my ancestors lived.Included are the West, White,and McFarland families.WARNING:DO NOT TAKE ALL OF MY FAMILY RECORDS AS GOSPEL. ALWAYS CONFIRM YOUR OWN RESEARCH!

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Sunday, May 27, 2018

My 10x great grandfather Thomas Rogers was a Mayflower passenger and a signer of the Mayflower Compact. Unfortunately he died not long after landing at Plymouth.

From William Richard Cutter:

Thomas Rogers, immigrant ancestor, was one of the Pilgrim Fathers. He was born in England, went to Holland with the Pilgrims and came to New England in 1620 on the "Mayflower, "' bringing with him his son Joseph, and taking a prominent part in the colony at Plymouth. His other children came afterward. He died in the first sickness at Plymouth. Among his children were: 1. Joseph, mentioned below. 2. John, weaver and planter of Duxbury; taxed there in 1632; admitted a freeman March 1, 1641-42; town officer and commissioner of jurors; married, April 16. 1639, Ann Churchman; lived at Scituate about 1647; removed to Marshfield where he died: will dated February 1, 1660; wife Frances. 3. William. 4. Noah.pp775-776

Saturday, May 26, 2018

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Friday, May 25, 2018

((I first posted this back in 2013. Sadly another name has been added to the wall since then, Abington's first native son killed in Afghanistan))

Heather Wilkinson Rojo of Nutfield Genealogy is once again asking
bloggers to transcribe their local veteran monuments and list the names
on their blog. It's called the Military Honor Roll Project and I wanted to
take part this year. I headed over to the memorial here in Abington
which is located right next to the building shared by the American Legion
and VFW Posts. It's a beautiful spot and there's quite a few names on it for
such a small town. They start with World War 1 and run up to the present
day.

It was a bright sunny day and I thought perfect for taking the pictures I needed
to work with for the transcription, but it turned out to be it was less than ideal.
The nearby trees were casting shadows over most of the monument and the wind
moving the leaves would cause the shadows to shift around.

DEDICATED IN LASTING MEMORY OFABINGTON'S MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVED AND SACRIFICED IN THEIR COUNTRY'S WARS

Monday, May 21, 2018

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Sunday, May 20, 2018

My 9x great grandfather William Parker was a bit of rebel. He's the first of my Plymouth Colony ancestors who was fined for entertaining Quakers in his house, and for not attending church services. Here's what Samuel Dean wrote about him in his History of Scituate:

WILLIAM PARKERwas a freeman 1640. He had sixty acres of land north of Edward Foster's North river lot. His house stood in Parker lane, west of the small brook. In 1639, he married Mary, the daughter of Thomas Rawlins: and again 1651, Mary, the daughter of Humphry Turner. His children, Mary born 1639, William 1643, Patience 1648, Miles 1655, Joseph 1658, Nathaniel 1661. This family has spread wide in the country. Some descendants are in Boston. Joseph remained in Scituate : his children, Alice, Mary, Joseph, Judith, Miles, from 1684 to 1702. His son Joseph was the last who lived on the paternal spot, save his only daughter Ruth, born 1711, who lived to a great age, and is remembered as the last of the family. William, jr. had sons, (his wife Mary Clark 1693), Alexander, Joshua and Elisha, but they all removed. Nathaniel died in Phipps's Canada expedition, 1690. His brother Miles was then living in Scituate. William Parker died 1684. His will gives "To Joseph 10 acres near the land formerly John Bonpasse's, and 3 acres near where the Sweede's old house stood. To daughter Patience Randall—to grandchild Stephen Totman—wife Mary the homestead during her life, then to be divided between Miles, Nathaniel, William, Lydia, Mary, Judith." -P320

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Thomas Totman's wife Mary Parker was my 8x great grandmother. While looking into her parents, William Parker and Mary Rawlins, I was able to push back her line one more generation to her grandfather, Thomas Rawlins of Scituate, Ma., my 10x great grandfather.

I found information about Thomas in a book by John Rollins:

Thomas RawliwS, Of Soituate.(i.) Thomas Rawlins came from England in 1630 in the same company with Governor Winthrop, the first company of that year; settled in Roxbury; was admitted freeman May 18, 1631*; removed to Scituate, according to Roxbury records, about 1639!. He must have been in Scituate before 1639, because the Colony records say that Thomas Rawlins and others, of Scituate, were presented by the jury Dec, 1638, for receiving foreigners and strangers into their houses and lands without license of the Governor and Assistants, or acquainting the town of Scituate therewith. They were all discharged by the Court, 1639. Mr. Rollins purchased Anthony Annable's North River lot, in 1642. His house, situated where Dea. Thomas and Dea. George King afterward resided, was built in 1637. In 1646 he was one of the Connihasset partners^.

During his residence in Scituate he was a man of note and usefulness, having been appointed by the General Court a member of the Grand Jury of the Colony in 1641, 1642, and 1646; he was also a surveyor of Scituate, 1642, 1644, and one of the Town Committee in 1643; he was also one of the Deputies from Scituate at the special session of the General Court held at Plymouth, Sept. 27, 1642, for the purpose of providing forces against the Indians, for an offensive and defensive war, at which session "Miles Standish was appointed Captain of the forces to be raised; Mr. Thomas Prence to be his counsel, and to advise in the wars; William Palmer, leftenant, and Peregrine White, auncient bearer."*

Oct. 10, 1643, he was again a delegate to the General Court, convened on the occasion of the insurrection of the Indians against the Dutch and English.

His first wife, Mary, died just prior to his removal, having, according to Roxbury Church Records, "lived a godly life." His second wife, Emma, died Dec. 27, 1655, and he married May 2, 1656, Sarah, widow of David Mattocks, of Roxbury.f

Mr. Rawlins died in Boston, Mar. 15, 1660. His will, dated Mar. 12, 1660, conveyed property to his wife Sarah; and to his son Thomas, a house in Boston, provided he live there with his mother as heretofore; to his son Nathaniel, a farm in Scituate, etc. It is added in the record of probate that "Thomas Rawlins, ye sonne, declared that knowing his father to have left his mother-in-law, Sarah, too little, he was free and willing, and did give her nine pounds more," etc. -pp271-272

Saturday, May 12, 2018

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In honor of Mother's Day, here are pictures of our Dad's female ancestors.

First, on his mother's side:

Amos H Barker & Betsey J (Moore) Barker

Our 2x great grandmother Betsey Jane Moore was born on 16 Aug 1842 at Waterford,
Oxford, Me. She married Amos Hastings Barker in 1856 and they raised a family of
12 children, 11 of whom survived to adulthood. Betsey died 12Mar 1924 at age 82.

My great grandmother Charlotte Lovenia Barker is the lady on the right.

Our great grandmother Charlotte Lovenia Barker was youngest of Amos & Betsey's
12 children. She was born on 3 Aug 1879 in Albany, Oxford, Maine and was known as
":Lottie". She married her first cousin Frank W. Barker on 16Oct 1898 and they had
4 children before Frank died in 1905 from pneumonia caused by "La Grippe" (the flu).
She was married three more times before her death on 3Jan 1944 at Bangor, Maine.

Cora Berthella (Barker) West & her great granddaughter Mindy Sue West

Our grandmother Cora Berthella (Barker) West was born 27Oct 1899 and was the eldest
child of Frank and Charlotte. She preferred the name Bertha, although it was given as
Cora on her marriage certificate. Bertha married Floyd E.West Sr on 24Mar 1919 and
had 5 children, one of whom was our Dad.

On his Dad's side of the family:

Arvilla (Ames)West

Our 3x great grandmother Arvilla Ames was born in Livermore, Androscoggin, Maine
on 25Jan 1810, one of 10 children. She married John Cutter West on 23Sep 1827
at Sumner, Maine, and five years later they moved to Letter B Plantation (later renamed
Upton), Oxford, Maine. She had 10 children, 3 of whom died in a diphtheria outbreak
in 1862. She died at age 97 at Hermon, Maine.

Louisa A.(Richardson) West

Louisa Richardson, our 2x great grandmother was born in Wilton, Maine on
23Jun 1837 at Wilton, Maine. She was the second wife of Jonathan Phelps West,
whose first wife had died in the 1862 diphtheria outbreak. Louisa and Jonathan
married on 31Jan 1865 and had 4 sons. She died 4Oct 1925 at age 88.

Florilla (Dunham) Ellingwood & Asa F Ellingwood

Our other paternal 2x great grandmother was Florilla Dunham who was born 29Aug
1832 at North Paris, Oxford, Maine. She married Asa F. Ellingwood on 10Aug 1850
at Woodstock, Oxford, Maine and 11 children.(She was one of 11 children herself.)
She died in Paris, Oxford, Maine on 21Feb 1917.

Clara (Ellingwood) West

Finally, our great grandmother Clara Ellingwood was the 8th child and youngest
daughter of Florilla and Asa Ellingwood. She was born 6Mar 1865 in Dummer, Coos,
NH. Her first marriage with Charles Tidswell ended in divorce and she married our
great grandfather Philip J West on 25May 1894 at Shelburne, Coos, NH. She had
three children by her first marriage and two by her second, including our grandfather
Floyd E West, Sr. Sadly, Clara died young after an illness in Augusta, Maine on 10Apr
1901. She was only 36 years old.

Once again for Mothers Day I'm posting photos of our family's mothers.

For our Mom's side we don't have very many since
her grandparents immigrated
here from Ireland and Germany in the 19th
century.

John McFarland & Annie (Kelley) McFarland

First there's Anna Kelley, born 1Oct 1858 in Kiltrustan, Roscommon, Ireland. She married
my great grandfather in Edinburgh Scotland on 16May1879 and shortly after they came
to America and settled in Boston. She had 17 children, 10 of whom survived to adulthood.
Anna died 15Feb 1945 at Boston, Ma. at age 86.

Pauline (Offinger) White

Our other maternal great grandmother was Pauline Offinger, born 17Dec 1873
in Cambridge, Massachusetts to German immigrant parents. She married Edward J.
White on 27Nov 1895 in Boston, Ma. and had 9 children.

Agnes (McFarland) White

Our grandmother Agnes (McFarland) White was born 7Oct 1898 in Boston, Ma, the
14th of John & Annie's 17 children. She was known as "Aggie" in the family.
She married Edward F.White, Sr. and had two children, our Uncle Ed and our Mom
Anne Marie. She died 12Feb 1957 in Malden Ma.

Anne M. (White) West

Finally, our Mom, Anne M. (White) West. She was born 7Jul 1927 at Boston, Ma and
married our Dad on 29Jun 1947, also at Boston. To her McFarland cousins she was
known as "Red White". She died on 28Jul 1999 at Weymouth, Ma and she is missed by
my brother, my sister, myself and the rest of the family.

Monday, May 07, 2018

Looking into my 7x great grandfather Stephen Totman for this post handed me another family mystery to ponder. The original information I had found online was that Stephen had one wife named Dorothy, possibly Dorothy Stoddard. But this brief entry by William Richard Cutter presents a different story:

II) Stephen, son of Thomas Totman, resided first in Scituate, where he married _____ ____ (first) . He removed to Plymouth, and married Dorothy _____. He settled finally in Dorchester. Children: Stephen, born October 11, 1691, died young; Samuel, born July 20, 1693; Stephen, May 27, 1695, died young: Mary, born November 6, 1696; Christian,January 17. 1699. Of second wife, born in Dorchester: Elkanah, 1703 ; Thomas, mentioned below; Lydia, 1708; Stephen, 1711.- p641

Now my information was that Stephen's son Samuel (my 6x great grandfather) was born in 1691. But if Cutter is correct and the first Samuel died young, then I am descended from the second Samuel who was born in 1711.

Saturday, May 05, 2018

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